Her Ladyship
by nootylicious
Summary: Elise never got on very well with people in general. That was fine. She never felt the need to reach out. But it seemed the new farmer in town disagreed. 100 drabbles about everyone's favourite rich girl, and how she learns and grows. My take on Regardless1604's 100 themes challenge! Mostly about Elise herself, but with an Elise/Annie ending. Cover art by leafvalley!
1. Introduction

Elise was never any good at introductions. She had a tendency to try and make a good first impression, but never, ever went about it the right way. She liked to show bravado; a quick display of her power that just seemed standoffish and even bratty, quickly descending into outright insults to cover up her insecurity. She never meant to do it, but Elise had a knack for making enemies in the first conversation.

It seemed that it would be no different with Annie.

Apparently not.

The girl stuck out a friendly hand in offer: "Nice to meet you, Elise!"


	2. River

She secretly loved the river. Ever since she was a little girl, she enjoyed hunting around the river near her old house for things to show her father. He was never impressed, but she always found it a fun pastime, nonetheless.

Sometimes, she longed to cast off her skirts and petticoats and to sink to the bottom of the riverbed. She knew nobody else felt the same. It would take someone more impulsive than her, and no one was more impulsive than Elise.

Which was why she was so surprised when she saw a bandana-clad head bob to the surface.


	3. Farm

"It's a bit pitiful, isn't it?"

A cheery laugh. "It's just starting out. I'm going to make it almost as nice as yours."

Fritz never got offended by anything. He managed to take her slip-of-the-tongue insult and use it to compliment her. He was like rubber. That made her the glue.

She pursed her lips.

"Well, good luck. If you need anything, you know where I am."

"Nah, I'm good. I'd rather try it myself."

He struck a pose. She failed to suppress a snort. Fritz didn't seem to notice.


	4. Warmth

Light flooded her enormous bedroom. Elise buried her head in her duvet.

"Ma'am, it's the morning."

"Go away."

It was cold out. Her nose tingled with redness. No good could come out of getting up early on a day like today.

"Your appointment with the Rose County trader is in an hour, ma'am."

"Lay the fires. I might think about getting up if you do."

If it was too cold to get up, it was certainly too cold for business.

A second maid appeared at the door.

"Ma'am, lady Annie is here."

She sat up.

Suddenly, it felt much warmer.


	5. Clouds

"Bad weather, huh?"

Elise turned and slightly squinted. She never recalled having a proper conversation with Agate, and yet, here they were. Apparently chatting about the weather.

"Yes, quite."

Agate's eyes crinkled in a smile.

"I bet your crops don't do too well on days like these."

"I water them."

Agate was like Fritz in the sense that none of Elise's obvious putdowns seemed to get to her.

"The lack of sun is bound to be pretty tough, too."

"I suppose so."

"You're being pretty rude, you know, Elise."

Ah.

So maybe her snideness did get to Agate, after all.


	6. Bells

Alarm bells went off in her head the moment Fritz' muddy boots landed on her hall carpet.

"W-what are you doing, you clod?"

He looked up and his eyes brightened.

"Hey, there, Elise!"

"Take off your boots! Take them off!"

The boots were left next to the door. Fritz' big toe poked out of his right sock. She looked at him disdainfully.

"Can I help you?"

He cocked his head, reminding her of a puppy.

"I just came by to say hi."

"Just came by to-"

She sighed.

"No business? None?"

"Nope!" He grinned. "I just wanted to see you."


	7. Love

Small hands clung on to the doorframe, refusing to be seen. Her father sat, just beyond; his hand gently tousled her sister's soft blonde curls. Neither of them noticed her.

She was supposed to be on time-out. She had done something silly, acted out, and so had been sent to sit on the back step outside. Obviously, that hadn't worked out.

Her father never ran his hands through her hair. Not even when she was on her best behaviour. He never so much as spoke to her.

Was she really so awful compared to her older sister?


	8. Cold

Small knees pressed together as a curly mass of hair floated about her in the bathwater. She was feeling something, some unpleasant emotion, but it was different to her usual anger. What was usually a boiling hot feeling in the pit of her stomach had somehow become cold, apathetic - Elise's entire body felt as though it was made of ice. Some might argue she was acting bitter and jaded for her ten years. Then again, not all ten-year-olds had their father tell them precisely why they were so loathsome.

The water had gone cold. She got out.


	9. Coffee

She had never been a particular fan of coffee. Klaus, ever the gentleman, was aware of this, and coyly insisted upon it being a drink for a more refined palate. That had gotten her interested, and so she had spent an entire afternoon in his company, attempting to choke down a mug of the stuff.

"What's with the face, Elise?" Annie later asked.

"What face?"

"That face."

She sighed.

"Klaus had me try some coffee."

To Elise's surprise, Annie screwed up her face.

"Oh, same! I've never liked coffee, myself. Not sweet enough."

Elise blinked. "I see."


	10. Gift

When Elise looked over her gardens, her nose curled in disdain. They were plain. Old-fashioned. Not high-brow enough. So, that autumn, Elise sent out for a landscaper to come and rework her land. He took his sweet time in replying, and arrived in the winter. He was exactly as Elise would have expected - coarse, tasteless - but she would never have expected how he acted towards her.

"Hey, lady, when I said I needed some alone time, I meant alone."

Elise blinked. He was telling her to go away.

"How dare -"

"You want to say something?"

They locked glares.


	11. Fire

"Hey, it's warm in here."

Nadi was by fireplace. She sprang from her couch.

"What are you-?! How could you-?!" She pointed to the door. "Get out!"

He looked annoyed.

"It's cold out there. How am I supposed to work your gardens if I'm frozen to death?"

"If you don't leave this instant, I'll fire you without a reference! You're- you're getting ash all over the floor!"

"Then you'd have no one to fix your gardens."

"And you would be out of the job!"

They glared.

"Then we're at a stalemate."


	12. Marriage

Although she would never admit it, she was strangely jealous of Corona. She looked down on her for marrying an older man, but, in truth, the balance between fire and kindness in her amazed Elise. She heard Melanie pestering her in the square:

"Corona?"

"Yes?"

"What's it like, being married?"

The lady deliberated.

"Well, I would say it's hard, but it's not. Not really for me, anyway. I love my Gunnie more than anyone else in the world."

"Do you ever fight?".

"Doesn't everyone? But we always make up."

Melanie thought.

"Corona?"

"Yes?"

"I want to be just like you."


	13. Death

Elise sometimes wondered about her mother. She didn't remember a lot about her. Pictures of her adorned most of Elise's childhood home, at least giving Elise a clear image of her appearance. She was beautiful, but not in the frilly sort of way that Elise was. She had more of a wholesome sort of beauty to her, much like Elise's older sister. She once mentally put the image of her family together. In her young mind, they looked just like Cinderella's family, before the wicked stepmother came along.

If her sister was Cinderella, didn't that make Elise the ugly stepsister?


	14. Lookalike

Elise coyly observed Nadi work from her living room window. She didn't give a hoot about his muscles, shining in the sun, or his obvious good looks. No, being the selfish little miss that she was, Elise was comparing him to herself.

They were the polar opposites of each other. Worlds away. He was coarse and vulgar and thick and poor. Elise was anything but.

Yet there was something about him that resonated with her.

Annie came bounding across the gardens and Nadi callously tossed an insult at her. His sudden face of regret made Elise realize what it was.


	15. Apple

She was taking a stroll around her gardens. Nadi was off annoying someone else, Fritz was fishing, Annie was tending to her summer crops, and Elise didn't particularily care about what anyone else was doing. Her farm would be fine without her for the day. Besides, the orchards were inviting her.

The trees gave her head shade. A breeze rustled the branches, stirring leaves and causing them to whip the air. She shielded her eyes as she looked to the sky, and, among the other colourful fruits, her eyes found an apple.

If she was remembering correctly, Annie's favourite fruit.


	16. Life

Her heart pounded so hard it felt as though it was about to burst from her chest. Brown eyes glistened at her as the cow lay silently on its side. Her hands felt around. It was sickeningly slimy, and she felt she would pass out again. Her vision swam.

"It's okay," Annie assured, placing her steady hands on Elise's wrists. "Just pull."

Elise glanced into Annie's eyes just as her fingers wrapped around hooves. She yanked, and for a moment she thought it was stuck, but then it slid out all at once onto the straw. Small, shaking, and alive.


	17. Night

"Elise."

She looked up and felt a smile tugging at her face. "Ah, I thought that was you."

Annie beamed. "Yup! Ready to head on down?"

"Of course."

The night was freezing, but she hardly felt it. Nadi sat scowling on the plaza wall.

"I've been waiting for ages."

Annie's cheeks were red with cold as she laughed. "Oh, quit complaining!"

Elise laughed too - a high-pitched, obnoxious sound - "Yes, do quit complaining!" - and Nadi's scowl deepened. Elise didn't stop laughing - she knew he wasn't angry.

"Look, let's just go find a spot, okay?"


	18. Children

"He's upstairs," the ever-helpful Lillie called from the front desk, and Elise thanked her before making her way to the inn's second floor. Nadi's room was the first on the right. Elise, being his employer, felt it natural to let herself in.

"Nadi," she called. No response. "Nadi, I know you're in here."

She sighed, and scanned the room, before spotting something under his bed and shrieking. The something shrieked back, and banged its head off the bed's underside. To add to the confusion, Melanie burst in and shouted "found you!"

"Ah, so it was hide-and-seek."

"Yup! Nadi's really good."


	19. Sun

"And... it appears Annie wins today's shipping contest with a total of 213,008G. The deed to the Spice Field is passed over to her. Annie, congratulations."

Elise clapped politely, but Fritz suddenly clutched his hands to his head and let out a shout of frustration.

"Aargh! You beat me again!" Suddenly, he gripped Annie's shoulders. "But hey, that's okay! When you're lifelong rivals like us, someone's gotta win!"

Annie, seemingly unfazed, flashed a thumbs-up and a grin. "You got that right! There's always next time, Fritz!" The two struck a pose.

"How passionate," murmured Giorgio.

"Like the sun," Elise agreed.


	20. Beach

"Elise, dear, come play in the water," Margaret called. Elise sniffed from the shore.

"No, thank you." The shade was lonely and her book was boring, but it beat spending time with her older sister.

Margaret was the loveliest thing on the beach, as usual. She could see other noblemen and their sons, out of the corner of her eye, coyly watching her. Margaret had been making an awful lot of men hot under the collar lately. Elise had admirers too, but they often cleared off when they discovered either her personality or her sister.

Elise sniffed again. No matter.


	21. Harvest Festival

She had expected to find Annie snoozing by a fence, or trying to polish off the last of her lunch before the festival in an hour. What she hadn't expected to see was her rival knee-deep in dirt and crying her eyes out.

"Annie?"

She jumped and knuckled the wet from her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Annie replied with a forced grin.

"You're lying."

"I -" She roughly rubbed her face. "I squashed my yam. It's ruined."

Elise thought for a moment.

Annie's mouth went round as Elise's pumpkin was promptly dropped and smashed beneath her heel.

"Oh, dear. Mine too."


	22. Fear

"You horrid girl!" Margaret wailed.

Elise's throat was dry. "I'm sorry, Maggie. Please don't tell on me. I'll fix it. I promise I will."

"You're not sorry. You just don't want Daddy to find out," she shot back viciously. "Well, you shan't stop me."

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE'LL DO.

"Papa!"

"What is it?"

Papa appeared at the door, larger than Elise had ever seen him.

"Elise snapped my necklace!"

He was furious.

"You little beast."

Margaret looked proud for a moment, but her face fell when Papa grabbed a hold of Elise's curls and dragged her from the room.


	23. Hate

Elise had never hated anyone other than Margaret. Otherwise, it had only varied from envy to dislike. The deepest, rawest reserves of her hatred had always been for her older sister only. Least of all had she ever expected to hate anyone from Oak Tree Town.

But in that moment, as she finally reached the top of that horrible mountain beneath Annie's farm, she felt she had never despised anyone but him. He had betrayed her trust in the worst way she could have imagined, leaving her entire world to disintegrate.

Fritz' arms were around Annie. He was kissing her.


	24. Birth

Jack burst in on her while she was eating dinner. It took all her restraint not to throw a plate at him.

"P-pardon for the intrusion, m'lady, but another one of the cows is giving birth."

She glared. "Why should I care?"

"Well, it's just, thinkin' of the great job that you and Miss Annie did the last time -"

All too clearly, she reenvisioned the kiss. His lips on hers.

Her dinner plate whirred past Jack's ear, shattering on the wall behind him and spattering broccoli on his face.

"Out! Now!" she shrieked. He disappeared, leaving only her and Thalberg.


	25. Farmer

"You thought you were so clever, didn't you? The two of you pretend to be friends with me, all while trying to steal my land for yourselves. Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore. I'm not letting you or your boyfriend anywhere near my farm ever again!" she shrieked.

Annie looked shocked. Hurt. Confused.

Elise's chest heaved, quelling the tears that threatened to spurt forward.

"What have you to say for yourself?"

Elise couldn't tell how long they shared eye contact. It could have been seconds, it could have been hours. Silence.

"You're pathetic," Elise spat, and left.


	26. Food

She knew she was in the wrong.

Wait, no, she wasn't.

Annie was the wrong one.

That was ridiculous. Elise was her friend, and friends should be happy for each other.

But a true friend would have told her about something like this.

Maybe they weren't as close as Elise had thought.

Maybe Annie had never cared about her.

Oh, she was being ridiculous. She slammed her fork down and chewed aggressively. It was none of her business what Annie did with her love life. She had no idea where those accusations had come from.

But she was still hurt.


	27. Blushing

"Your nurse -"

"Angela," Marian corrected.

"Angela," Elise repeated, annoyed. "She's very close with Lillie." The girls in question chatted by the clinic door as Elise watched from the patient's seat. " _Ouch_!"

Marian smiled secretly and removed the otoscope. "Sorry, darling."

"Hm. Anyway. They're very close."

"Well, that's to be expected."

"What do you mean?"

"They've been together for a long time."

"Ah, yes. I hear they are childhood friends."

Marian paused.

"Oh, honey, no. I mean they're _together_ together."

Lillie planted a kiss on Angela's lips before leaving. Elise turned an embarrassing shade of puce.

"I... see."


	28. Sickness

"Ellie," came a whisper.

Elise's eyes cracked open to see her sister's silhouette in the darkness of her room.

"Don't call me that," she whispered back stuffily.

"I won't, then." Margaret paused. "I brought you some sweeties from the parlour. We can share if you'd like."

Elise sniffled, fighting off the urge to sneeze. "I don't want them."

"Oh, how horrid of me." Margaret stroked her hair, causing her to stiffen. "I hadn't thought of your poor tummy. I'm sorry."

"It's all right."

She closed her eyes and waited for Margaret to leave.

"Love you, Ellie."

She pretended to be asleep.


	29. Fireworks

"I'm sorry!" Annie yelled as the first firework went off. Elise looked down at her hand, grasped in Annie's. "Fritz kissed me without asking and I pushed him away but you had already gone and I should have said earlier but I thought you were so mad at me that I couldn't -" Tears streamed down her face. "I don't even like boys, Elise!"

Elise swallowed hard, her eyes pricking. Her world spun.

"I'm the one who should be saying sorry. Goddess, I'm such an idiot!"

The two hugged, locked in a wash of emotion, as colour spilled into the sky.


End file.
